Robert Sheppard: Poem by Earl of Surrey with my intralingual translation in International Times

I have been writing poems that re-write the Petrarchan tradition for a while and wondering whether they need to be displayed alongside the original. Possibly Wyatt's, Milton's and EBB's are well-enough known for this not to be a problem, but Surrey and Charlotte Smith are more obscure (but shouldn't be, and weren't in the past). So I have experimented with this poem from the 'Direct Rule' part of the Surrey poems (they are the ones that are not versions of Petrarch but are trenchantly 'occasional'. This one involved touching on Trump's 'trans ban' and upon the macho version of diplomacy that seems to prevail in the White House. I held it back from publication as it became a veritable thicket of scare-quotes to show I wasn't expressing the opinions involved. The two poems together make that clear. Thanks to Rupert for taking this for International Times.

See here:

http://internationaltimes.it/direct-rule-in-peace-with-foul-desire

I write about the completed 100 sonnets of The English Strain here.